Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle |
May 17, 2006

Few pieces of legislation show what's wrong with Congress so readily as the emergency spending bill to pay for the war in Iraq and hurricane recovery. Not only have members of Congress larded the bill with deficit-swelling, unessential, nonemergency pork, a senator has inserted language that would turn the legislation into a Billboard Regeneration and Highway Uglification Act.

U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, added to the emergency spending bill a measure that would allow outdoor advertising companies, with state permission, to rebuild billboards destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita — even if they do not conform to local billboard regulations. Utah sustained no billboard damage from hurricanes last year, but it is home to billboard companies that contribute generously to Bennett's campaign.

If the rebuilding of ugly, nonconforming, hurricane-damaged billboards were in the public interest, Gulf States senators would have sought it. Bennett's measure runs counter to the federal Highway Beautification Act, the legacy of Lady Bird and President Lyndon Baines Johnson. It would plant the federal highways with new billboards that could stand for another generation. It would thwart local control, and once again it would trade power and influence in Congress for campaign cash, substituting private gain for public good.

There can be little wonder why Congress sits so low in the voters' esteem.

The Senate's $109 billion spending bill must be compromised with the House's $92 billion version. Conferees could restore a small measure of confidence in their institution if they removed the language seeking relief for the billboard industry.